Another Year in a Shell
by Kiro Kaito
Summary: Sango, Kagome, and Nuku have a new start- New school, new clothes... New friends? InuYasha enters another year of school- it's been five months since Kikyou's brutal murder. (As always, the summary sucks. Read it and you'll get it. Flames accepted.)
1. A New start, Another start

_Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. I do own Kiro, however, and I know who owns Nuku. It's not you. Believe me._

"Mmmmmm...." Miroku groaned as he slowly woke up. "That was one _heckuva_ dream..." His head pounding, he tried to remember it— something about InuYasha, and it had two hot girls in it... Crazy dream, he had to admit. He had had some hole in his hand that could suck things into it... He groggily tried to kick the covers off, succeeding only in falling off the bed, landing on the floor with a loud 'thump'.

He had been a monk- a Buddhist monk! Haha, now _that_ was laughable. Granted, he had been a horrible monk, grabbing everone's butts... Isn't it funny how dreams sometimes work in real details, he thought with a laugh. A monk... He couldn't wait to tell InuYasha _that_ one.

He groaned again, peeling himself off the ground and standing up, eyes glued shut with sleep junk. He rubbed his eyes, frowning. Oh, yeah... he thought, That's right. Yasha wasn't answering his phone anymore. For a while after It happened, InuYasha had tried to be normal, tried to 'hang' and be with his friends... But for two weeks now, he had stopped taking calls and holed himself up in his father's mansion with that creepy, 'playboy' brother of his.

Miroku heard a knock on the door, and he ignored it, starting to get dressed. "Miroku..." came his father's voice, his tone slightly disapproving, "You were out so late last night... You didn't forget school starts today, did you?" Miroku blinked. Out late...? Oh. He had almost forgotten about the party that last night- maybe _that_ was where the dream had come from. Maybe someone had spiked the drinks or something... He blinked a couple of times, then cursed. "Dammit!" He had _completely_ forgotten about school. Good thing his father was there to remind him, he thought, slightly sarcastically, (he didn't _want_ to be reminded about school,) but mostly not. In his dream, his father had been dead... Kinda creepy, he thought, stretching, nearly tripping over his half-up pants.

"Miroku?" his father repeated. "Oh... uh... I'm getting ready," Miroku said, finally remembering to reply. "Okay..." his father said, then continued, hesitantly, "And... Kiro called..." Miroku made a face. How could Kiro be up already?! "She was out later than _I_ was!" Miroku objected, turning his phone back on. Every night, he turned it off, because if he didn't he tended to get late night calls from his friends, something his father didn't appreciate.

"Well, apparently _Kiro_ can go without sleep," his father said, and Miroku could practically _hear_ the man rolling his eyes. Miroku listened to his father's footsteps as he walked down the stars, then yawned again, taking off the jeans he had started to put on. He got into the shower, quickly washing and rinsing off, then washing and rinsing his hair. He got out of the shower, rolling his eyes as he wrapped a towel around himself, hearing the phone ringing. "Boy, didn't miss a beat..." he murmured, sitting down on the bed and picking up the phone.

"Hello?" he answered. "Miroku, I swear, if this is the answering machine I'm going to kill you!" Kiro replied.

"Good morning to you too," Miroku murmured, stifling a yawn. "Ooh, Miroku. You got up finally," Kiro said, yawning loudly into the phone. "There's... three transfers coming to the school; I checked it out and they're pretty hot," she continued.

"... Hot? Are they guys or girls?" he asked, rolling his eyes. You never knew with Kiro. Either she was remarking for herself, or trying to hook him up. Kiro ignored him, "Just moved here," was all she said.

".... Have you been hacking into the school computers?" Miroku asked suspiciously. Kiro, feigning indignance, replied, "Of course not!!" then, muttering, she continued, "I don't know _how_ you went to I.S.S without me and Yasha finding out..."

"You _have_ been hacking! Man, Kiro!" Miroku said, sighing exasperatedly. "Yeah, yeah..." Kiro said, rolling her eyes, "See you at school," she finished, hanging up.

"Uh... goodbye..." Miroku murmured to the dial tone, ruffling his hair, then sighed, dialing InuYasha.

InuYasha lay in his bed, staring at his ceiling. He heard the phone ring several times, and listened as Miroku, Kiro, and others all kept leaving voice messages. He began to find it quite annoying, so he leaned over his bed, grabbed a sneaker, and was about to throw it at the phone when his brother walked in, not bothering to knock. InuYasha looked annoyedly at Sesshoumaru, shoe-in-hand frozen behind his back in mid-air. "Do you want something, Sesshoumaru?" he spat out, glaring. If Sesshoumaru felt the least bit uncomfortable about seeing his brother in nothing but his boxers, he gave no sign of it.

"InuYasha, get out of bed," he said coolly, "And answer the phone, I'm sick of hearing it ring. A few of your _friends_ have begun calling the office number and leaving obscene messages." He paused, then growled, clenching his jaw before continuing, in a 'softer' tone, "She was only a human, InuYasha. Get over it. You will find another." His tone was forced, and InuYasha could tell that their father had ordered the 'pep talk'.

InuYasha gave him a sarcastic salute, sitting up and hanging his legs over the side of the bed. "Good job, Sesshoumaru... You served your purpose. Now leave," he said as he dropped the shoe on the ground, leaning his elbows on his knees and burying his hands in his long silver hair. "Father instructed me to drive you to school. I am leaving in fifteen minutes, and you are coming with me no matter what condition you are in," Sesshoumaru continued, turning on heel and leaving the room.

" you..." InuYasha murmured. Sesshoumaru paused in his steps. "Excuse me?" he asked, tone deathly low. "Thank you!!" InuYasha yelled sarcastically, his tone sickly sweet. Sesshoumaru began walking down the hall again, the sound of his footsteps heading towards the office. InuYasha sighed heavily, rubbing his head and trying to clear his thoughts. He had had this stupid dream, where he had this big ass sword and went around killing demons with it. Even in the dreams, he still had the stupid dog ears, though.

And Kikyou... Kikyou had been dead, even in his dream... The walking dead. But there had been another girl, and he had fallen in love with her... He 'feh'd, getting up and shoving his school clothes on. School... What a waste, he thought as he stomped down the stairs, inhaling some sausage and orange juice that the maid, Kaede, handed him. "Try to chew, InuYasha..." she said, sighing and rolling her eyes. InuYasha smiled softly at her. Out of everyone, it seemed like only she understood. She gave him a smile every once in a while, gave him an ear to talk to... He grimaced at the thought of what would happen at school.

Miroku would try to hook him up with some girl, Kiro would act weird and make her lewd comments, and everyone would put a hand on his shoulder, look him 'meaningfully' in the eye, and say 'Are you _alright_?'. He gagged at the thought.

"I told you to chew," Kaede teased with a grin, handing him his backpack. Inuyasha smiled half-heartedly, taking it. "Thanks, Kaede," he said quietly. She shrugged, "No problem. Now get outside before your brother leaves you behind. And ask him to drop you off at the mechanics— they called and your car is fixed." InuYasha nodded, sighing heavily. He wasn't gonna ask Sesshoumaru for crap.

"See you tonight, Kaede," he called out as he left, shutting the door behind him.

Sesshoumaru sat in the front office, listening to the voice messages, trying to pass the fifteen minutes by.

"Eh, InuYasha... You're not answering your phone, so I figured I'd try the office... Uh... Well, Kiro says we get transfers tomorrow at school, she's says they're 'hot'... Whatever that means... Well... Uh, I guess you're not answering the phone... Bye..." came Miroku's voice from the answering machine.

"Next message," the answering machine intoned.

"Yasha... It's Kiro. Answer the phone, dammit! Gaah—!! You know what, you're pissing me off! You know, Kikyou wasn't— You're not the only one who was hurt! Out of everyone, how could you not talk to me?! I'm— Forget this. Forget you! I swear, if I don't see you at school, I'm coming to your house and I'm going to beat the crap out of you!" There was a couple of beeps, sounding like an incensed Kiro had tried to hang up and clicked the wrong button a couple of times.

The phone began to ring again, and the answering machine picked it up when Sesshoumaru didn't answer.

"We are unable to come to the phone. If you are calling in regards to business, press two now. If not, leave a message at the tone," came InuYasha and Sesshoumaru's father, (Inu Taisho)'s recorded voice. The answering machine beeped, and Kiro's voice came back on.

"Dang... Yasha... Please, pick up the phone? Please?! I didn't- dammit.... Sesshoumaru? Mr. Taisho?! Someone, pick up the phone!" Sesshoumaru, who had been staring at his nails out of boredom, looked up, before answering the phone.

"Hello, this is Sesshoumaru speaking," he said in monotone.

"Sesshoumaru!!" Kiro shouted in relief. Sesshoumaru winced at the sudden burst of noise in his ear.

"Yes. What do you want?" he asked.

"Hey... uh... Well, I bet you've been listening to the voice messages, huh? Has... uh... Inuyasha heard the messages yet?"

"Not yet..." Sesshoumaru answered quietly. Kiro found his tone threatening, and bristled.

"Uh... Yeah... About that," she began, "Can you delete my last message?"

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment, then, as if he hadn't heard her, he asked, "Are you busy Saturday night?"

Kiro was silent for a while. "Uh... Noooo.... Wait. Let me check my über filled social calendar... Yep. I was right. I'm not busy." She paused. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Would you like to go to dinner on Saturday?"

"With who?" Kiro asked, her voice sounding even more suspicious.

"With me, Kiro..." Sesshoumaru said, sighing.

"With _you_?!" Kiro repeated incredulously.

Sesshoumaru was silent, again sighing heavily, so Kiro frowned. "Hey..." she began, "...... Are you... asking me out?" she asked.

"No," Sesshoumaru began, his tone showing nothing of the sarcasm in his words, "I was merely suggesting we eat at the same restaurant. At the same table. I'm not asking you out at all," he said, rolling his eyes.

"You are!" Kiro began in an accusatory tone; "You're asking me out! You jerk!"

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, burying a hand in his hair; not believing how hard Kiro seemed intent on making it for the both of them.

"Sesshoumaru... You know I'm dating Jakotsu," she said finally, trying to say 'NO!'.

"You and I both know you only date him to keep up appearances. You both use eachother," Sesshoumaru scoffed.

Kiro was silent for a while. "Where?" she asked, her self-restraint breaking. She was still going to say no, but she figured she might as well see what she was missing out on.

"... The Porterhouse?" Sesshoumaru suggested.

"........... ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!" Kiro shouted. Sesshoumaru winced. "_I can't afford that_!" she continued.

Sesshoumaru took a second to compose himself. "It is customary for the person who asks the other out to pay for it, Kiro," he said.

Kiro took a few deep breaths. "No. Forget it. I don't know _what_ you're up to, but I don't trust you as far as I can spit," she hissed.

"A lot, then," Sesshoumaru retorted.

"AS FAR AS I CAN THROW YOU THEN! FINE!" she shouted, growling. Sesshoumaru had enough sense this time to pull the phone away from his ear. "Just delete the message, will you?" Kiro continued, "I have to go to school. You're wasting my time."

"I think InuYasha would like to hear his messages, don't you?" Sesshoumaru asked. Kiro growled lowly. "You black-mailing sonuva—" she began, but Sesshoumaru cut her off. "Goodbye, Kiro."

"Fine! Fine!" Kiro shouted, "If you delete the message, I'll think about dinner, okay?! _Think!_"

"Goodbye, Kiro..." Sesshoumaru repeated.

"_Don't you dare hang up, you—_" Kiro began, but Sesshoumaru hung up. He put the phone back on the hook, and, after a moment's hesitation, clicked a button on the answering machine.

"All messages deleted," the machine intoned. Sesshoumaru walked out of the office, out of the house, and into his car, where InuYasha was waiting. The Inu hanyou had the passenger seat flat and his feet on the dash.

"It's been 23 minutes," InuYasha said smugly, looking up at his brother. Sesshoumaru wondered how InuYasha had gotten into the car without unlocking the door, but decided he didn't want to know. If there was so much as a scratch—

"I am aware of that, InuYasha," Sesshoumaru answered coolly, starting up the car. "You're late then," InuYasha gloated, "You admit it!" He put his chair back up and sat normally. Well, slumped normal.

Sesshoumaru clenched his jaw, ignoring InuYasha, driving to the school. The sooner they got to school, the better.

"This.... Sucks...." Sango murmured, staring at her clothes. "Dress code..." Kagome wrinkled her nose in agreement, "Uniforms would have been better. At least we could salvage them... Look at this! No rips or tears..."

"Oh, come on, we can still 'salvage' our outfits..." Sango murmured, putting on knee-high leather boots over her blue jeans. "Unlike your hair; there's no salvaging there," Kagome teased, grinning. About a month ago, Sango had cut her hair to chin-length and streaked it blue.

"Oh, yeah. Look who's talking," Sango spat, teasing also. Kagome's hair was to her mid-back, and had crimson red highlights.

"Kagome! Sango!" Kagome's mother called out from downstairs. "She's got a set of lungs..." Sango murmured.

"Yeah, Mom?!" Kagome shouted. "Nuku's here, she's waiting for you guys!" came her mother's voice.

"Okay!" Kagome shouted sweetly, before rolling her eyes as Sango pretended to gag.

"Man..." Sango remarked, "What use is having our driver's licenses and no car?" Kagome nodded darkly, putting on red eye shadow and lipstick, smoothing it out. Sango, already finished with her face, grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs.

"Sango! Man! Wait for me!" Kagome shouted, cursing, as she grabbed her bag and jacket, running to catch up with her friend. She put her jacket on as she ran down the stairs, then slung her backpack over one shoulder.

As she hit the bottom of the stairs, Kagome headed straight for the door, finally caught up with Sango. "Bye Mom!" she called out, and Sango raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Yeah... Bye Miss Higarashi!" she shouted. They walked out the door, greeted immediately by the sight of a black Viper, windows rolled down, the Smashing Pumpkins blaring full blast from the radio. Nuku leaned on the car with the back to the house.

"What took you?" she shouted, barely audible, glancing over her shoulder. Sango rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but Kagome beat her to it.

"SHOTGUN!"

Kagome walked triumphantly past Sango and opened the front seat. She slammed her backpack onto the floor and leaned her feet on it. Sango, miffed, got in the back. Nuku got in as well, and the moment seat hit Nuku's black skirt, the petal hit the floor, and they were peeling down the street. Nuku, Sango, and Kagome sang to the songs on the radio at the top of their lungs, before the commercials came on. After a few advertisements, Metallica came on.

Nuku turned sideways/around to look at Kagome and Sango, grinning. "Metallica before the first day of school," she shouted, "Must be a good sign!" before winking at them.

She brought her attention back to the front, and just in time— she swerved to the side to miss a car coming from the other way.

"Oops..." Nuku began, "Stop sign, my bad," she finished with a kamikaze grin. Sango acted like nothing happened, and Kagome clutched the edges of the seat. The driver of the other car, ("A BLACK PORSCHE! YOU ALMOST HIT A PORSCHE!!!" Kagome shouted,) was a silver haired demon, who glared at them as he kept driving. Another silver haired demon was ducked down into the seat, only his dog ears visible, as if he was afraid to be caught in the same car as the driver.

"Stuck up Youkai..." Nuku muttered loudly as she got out of the car, "Think they own the road...." She seemed to ignore the fact that she had just run a stop sign. As they all grabbed their stuff, Kagome kept an eye on the demons— the driver was already walking into the school, and the dog-eared guy was still getting his stuff out of the car.

By the time the girls were ready to go in, the dog-eared boy was heading up the stairs. He ignored the girls behind him, pushing the doors open and going inside— they stayed open long enough for them to slip in as well. Once inside the doors, it was chaos: people running around, greeting friends... "Blech... This reunion-happiness junk is suffocating..." Sango murmured darkly.

"Home class.... Math...." Nuku said, ignoring Sango's remark, "Great."

"Yeah... And it'd be even better if we knew where it was," Kagome remarked, glowering at all the people.

The dog eared boy was still in front of them, trying to push his way through the crowd without actually touching anyone, which was working considerably well... Until a boy with violet-and-black hair pounced him. The violet haired boy wrapped his arms around the dog-eared boy, and bent his knees so his feet were in the air and his entire weight on the other boy. "Kiro get offa me...." the dog-eared boy said annoyedly.

"That...." Sango murmured, jaw slack, "Was hot..." Kagome nodded in wide-eyed agreement, taking a closer look at the two, even as Kiro de-attached himself, looking at the silver-haired boy with a shy smile. "InuYasha..." he said quietly.

'Kiro' had green eyes and razor cut purple hair, the ends dyed black. His hair was short and cropped around his face, the hair on the right chin length, and the hair on the left top-of-the-ear length, all held back with a logo-less sweatband type thing. He was wearing black dress pants, a high collared, three quarter length white shirt, black arm warmers and fingerless gloves. He had rather delicate features for a boy, and a unisex, emo kid voice, which, couple with his girly demeanor, left little doubt to his preferences: Hot, but gay.

'InuYasha' had waist length, rather unruly, silver hair, doggy ears and beautiful amber eyes. His hair went down in ragged edges down his back, with bangs surrounding his head and two longer bangs hanging down like side burns. He wore black jeans, and had his hands tucked into a black hoody. He looked quite annoyed at Kiro.

"Okay..." Sango murmured, "I'm so calling dibs on Silver Hair," as Nuku sniffed the air. "They're both Hanyou," she said quietly. She seemed amused with herself for some reason. Kiro, meanwhile, had grabbed a hold of his shoulders and was looked at the dog-eared boy's eyes intently, continuing to stare for a couple of minutes. InuYasha was getting more annoyed by the second.

"Okay," Kiro said finally, "Just making sure." This made no sense to Kagome or Sango, and, judging from the annoyed/confused look on InuYasha's face, he didn't get it either. Nuku, however, didn't care, and had un-glued her eyes from the boys to ask some other guy for directions to the Math classroom.

"Thanks," she said finally, going back to Sango and Kagome. The hallway was emptying out, but the two guys were still there, and were soon joined by another: a guy with short black hair and clear blue eyes. He had messy bangs, and pulled the rest of it back into a small pony tail. He had his hands tucked lazily into blue jeans, and wore a dark blue short sleeve shirt. He looked amusedly at InuYasha, (who was still miffed,) and Kiro, (who stuck his tongue out, making a two-year-old face.)

"Sango, close your mouth, you're gaping," Nuku snapped, rolling her eyes as she headed down the hallway, past the guys. The bell rang, and Kagome looked around, watching as the remaining people scurried to their classrooms. (With the exception of the three boys, who ignored the bell and continued talking.)

"Oy!" Kagome called out, running and catching up with Nuku. "Sango you're going to be late!" Sango caught up as well, giving the guys another long look before they all slipped into the math classroom.

_Author's Notes: Moshi moshi, Minna! No, I don't own InuYasha, so no sueing me, okay? Yes... I realize that Kiro has changed genders... You'll understand it next chapter. --. _

_Anyways, see you next chapter!_

_Legacy-_

When I was younger, so much younger than today,  
I never needed anybody's help in any way.  
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,  
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,  
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.  
But every now and then I feel so insecure,  
I know that I just need you like I've never done before.


	2. Sarcasm, Lunch, and Dinner

_Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I do, however, own Kiro, and I know who owns Nuku. It's not you. Believe me. I know. Also, Mr. Keene belongs to me, he is my creation. evil laugh.... Uh... If you read it you'll get it... I think..._

_This chapter is dedicated to all of the poor people that thought I was making InuYasha gay. Wink This is also dedicated to the people who read the first chapter and went 'What an idiot this author is! Kiro was a girl in the beginning and now she's a guy!' _

_Yep. Here's to you guys._

The teacher, sitting at his desk, looked up when the girls entered. He raised an eyebrow, looking at them over his rectangle glasses, but otherwise gave them no attention, returning to his work.

The room was arranged in Science lab tables— tall tables with four chairs apiece, all facing the blackboard. Sango looked for a good seat, smirking to herself. "I wonder if the office warned him about us," she mused aloud. Kagome and Nuku smirked as well, exchanging looks, and they all sat at a table in the back. The door opened again, and the girls (and the teacher) looked up as the three guys walked in. Nobody else seemed to notice, too absorbed in their own business to care.

"Okay, everyone up," the teacher said, in a bored, inflectionless British voice. "You're all fools if you think I'm letting you sit wherever you want. I learned from last year," he said bluntly, looking at them all with a mixed bored/annoyed expression. A couple of students snickered, so he continued, "Haha, yes, as hard as that is to believe."

"I know you're all too engrossed in your own selves to care," he continued snidely, "But if you'll all turn your attention to the back, you'll notice we have three new students: Sango Taija, Kagome Higarashi, and Nuku Megami." Looking at the girls, he smirked and continued, "I do hope I pronounced your names right— besides sucking the blood out of last year's C students, learning how to pronounce your names was all I did."

Kagome, Sango, and Nuku exchanged looks. This guy was okay... For a teacher. Sango, noticing the silver haired Porsche driver glancing at her, gave him a two-finger salute. The teacher raised an eyebrow.

"I see you've met Master Sesshoumaru," he said, sneering. He stood up straighter, nose in the air. "I have been instructed to select a student or two to guide the new blood around this _hole_ they call a _school_," he said snobbily. A bunch of the students laughed, and Nuku, Sango, and Kagome exchanged glances— apparently there had been some inside joke they weren't privy to. 'Sesshoumaru' first glared at Sango, then the teacher.

Kiro gave the teacher a thumbs up. "Good one, Mr. Keene," he said quietly, grinning impishly.

"I aim to please," Mr. Keene said, also grinning, tilting his head for a small, flourished bow. "Anyway, back on topic here. Miss Kanna and Miss Kagura..." he began, and paused, waiting for the two girls to look up from their conversation, then continued, "Would you two like to guide them around the school?"

Kiro and the black haired guy exchanged looks, before the latter said, "Uh... Mister Keene... Do you really think that's wise?"

"Yeah," Kiro piped up, glowering, "Look at the newbs— do they really look like the kind of people who'd want to be led around by the leaders of the Prep Empire?" he asked, staring daggers at the white haired girl, who ignored him.

Mr. Keene paused, looking at the three girls, then Kanna and Kagura, then back. "Perhaps you're right, Miss Kiro," he said with a shrug. "Anyway—" he began.

"Don't call me that!" Kiro cut him off, as Sango and Kagome looked at eachother, hissing, "MISS?!" in perfect, not-so-quiet unison. "He's a _girl_?!"

"Don't sound so disappointed," Kiro said with a lazy half smile, turning to look at the girls. The black haired boy was cracking up. Mr. Keene was trying very hard not to laugh. (It'd probably spontaneous combust him, Nuku thought.)

"Yes, Kiro's our resident cross dresser," the teacher said with a smirk, "And we all love her for it."

"She can prove she's a girl," the black haired guy said, grinning. Kiro smiled slightly. "Miroku..." he— _she_— said quietly, "Stop it..."

"No, we're fine," Kagome spat, making a face. Nuku was cracking up, and Sango was glaring at her. "You knew she was a girl, you jerk!" Sango accused. Nuku was too busy trying not to burst a lung to respond.

"Oh, come on, let her prove it!" Miroku said, before Kiro punched him, hard. "OW!" he said, rubbing his shoulder and glaring at her.

"Settle down, please," Mr. Keene said dryly. "We'll figure this out later. Well... We'll never figure out Kiro. But we will figure out the whole guide-around-the-school ordeal. For now, I'm continuing with the seating arrangements, as I'm tired of standing up with all of you. In the front, table one," he said, picking up a pool cue that was leaning against his desk, pointing at 'table one'.

"Abi, Ayame, Kagura, Kanna," he said, hitting the table each time with the cue.

"Eccentric, much?" Kagome asked sarcastically.

"But—" Kiro hissed, "He didn't even break up the preps! I can't believe this!"

"Dangit, Kiro, I can't hear! Shut up!" InuYasha snapped, glaring at her. Kiro wrapped her arms around him, squeezing the breath out of him. "Inu's in a bad moooOOOoood," she said, all happy-like. "Be _happeeeeeee_!" InuYasha pretended to gag, trying to breathe. Kiro let go, grinning triumphantly as numerous people stared at her.

Meanwhile, Mr. Keene was on Table Three, and instead of hitting the tables, he was just wildly waving the pool cue around. The prep girls at table one eyed him warily. "Table three. InuYasha, Miroku, Kiro, Sesshoumaru." No sooner were those words out of his mouth, did Kiro and InuYasha shout, "WHAT?!?!"

"_I'm not sitting by that creep!_" Kiro hissed, at the same time InuYasha shouted, "I'm not sitting at the same table as him!!!"

"Yes, you are, and... Yes, you are," Mr. Keene said smugly. "Master InuYasha, I am trying to place you by your friend, so Miroku sits by you. I enjoy hearing Miroku and Kiro's perverted banter, so she's sitting next to him, and Kiro's the only one I know can resist Sesshoumaru's...." he paused, then clasped his hands together in a very girly fashion, and squealed, "_UNGODLY BEAUTY!!_" As he did so, the pool cue hit the ceiling a couple of times.

Kagura, at Table One, glowered.

Kiro and InuYasha opened their mouths angrily again, but Mr. Keene pointed the pool cue at them. "Shut up! Now! InuYasha, you are _TWO SEATS _from him. And Kiro......" he tried to think of something to say, but apparently couldn't, as the next thing he said was, "Shut up!"

"Quit the incessant whining, will you?" he snapped, back into his snobby British-ism.

Kiro frowned, looking away, before reluctantly sitting down. Sesshoumaru sat next to her, not even looking at her... And she got up again, nearly knocking over Miroku, and stealing his chair. Miroku stared at her a second, (kind of scared,) before taking her seat. Kiro sat there, fuming, as did InuYasha.

"Table four. Kouga. Kagome. Nuku. Sango." Mr. Keene said, waving the pool cue again. Kiro and InuYasha stared daggers at him.

Kagome sighed heavily and looked around, trying to figure out who 'Kouga' was, finally sitting in her seat, soon followed by Sango and Nuku. Eventually, a boy with messy brown hair sat down next to them. He had his hair pulled back into a ponytail, but his bangs were every which way.

"..." Kagome looked away, yawning. The guy poked her on the shoulder, saying, "Hey. I'm Kouga, nice to meet you and all that stuff." Kagome looked up, annoyed, and Sango piped in, "If you say so."

"So you just moved here, then?" he asked, ignoring Sango. Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Wow. How _did_ you know?" she asked with flat sarcasm. Kouga held his hands in the air in an 'I surrender' fashion. "Boy... I'm not trying to start a fight or anything..."

"That's good," Kagome remarked offhandedly, slamming her backpack onto the table and taking her math book and journal out of it, then dropping it back onto the ground. Kouga raised an eyebrow, but turned away, towards the blackboard, smirking unnoticeably.

"Okay, now, back to the transfers... Who wants to lead them around?" he asked. Several people looked up, looking amused. You really think we want to lead some stupid newbs around? It was plain they were thinking along those lines.

Kiro and InuYasha continued to sulk, and Miroku kept staring at them, concerned. "Okay, fine then. Miroku, you lead the girls around, and InuYasha, you keep him from grabbing their—" Mr. Keene began.

Kiro, in the middle of glaring at the table, coughed loudly, hearing his words. She tried desperately to hide her smirk. "Hey, hey!" Miroku objected, "Don't _warn_ them about me!"

Kagome and Sango exchanged looks. ".... -.-"

"Okay, now if you'll all open your textbooks to page 17, let's get started, shall we?"

""""""""""""""""""""""

They got through math without any important disturbances, (Kiro kept throwing stuff randomly at Sesshoumaru, and Miroku was looking for places to hide by the end of the class,) and Nuku, Sango, Kagome, InuYasha, Miroku and Kiro all headed towards the science classroom, Miroku pointing out the sights.

Everything was normal, and they got to Lunch. Miroku got all of their butts at least once, (except InuYasha.) (Miroku's face was now bright red. The students passing didn't even spare him a second glance, which led the girls to think that it was normal for him to have slap marks on his face.)

"Miroku, give it a rest, will you?" Kiro asked, grinning all the same. "Lunch time... Manoman, I'm hungry," she said. They went through the line, and the transfers found a spot in the back. Kiro dragged InuYasha over there by his hoodie, and sat him down next to Kagome, before sitting next to Sango. Miroku sat between InuYasha and Kiro, but was soon up again. "... Man... Kagura wants me to sit by her... Well, anyway. Nice meeting you, girls... I'll see you next period," he said.

Kiro glared at Kagura, and then at Miroku's back. "I don't know how he can date that prep...." she muttered darkly.

"Someone jealous?" Sango remarked lightly, eating her pizza. Kiro raised an eyebrow, and scrunched her face up as if thinking. ".... Hmm... InuYasha... Am I jealous?" she asked, sipping on a can of Pepsi. InuYasha glared at her, and mumbled something dark underneath his breath, poking at his pizza.

"Don't make me hug you, Yasha..." Kiro warned, whispering and glaring back. "People will stare."

".... You are not jealous..." InuYasha said in forced monotone. Apparently, being threatened with a hug was enough to make him talk, however begrudgingly it was. "Okay," Kiro said happily, "I'm not jealous."

Sango raised an eyebrow. _I think this girl has taken the cake on strange-ness,_ Sango thought.

Jealous or not, Kiro kept glancing back and watching Miroku and Kagura, and didn't even drink the rest of her soda.

".... So... uh..." Kagome finally said, "How did he end up dating a prep, anyway?" she asked, attempting to make conversation. Kiro turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. "We used to be preps," she said quietly, poking at the table with a straw. "But that was a year and a couple of months ago... Well, for me it was a year and whatever ago... For InuYasha it's been about... 6 months... Miroku's the only one who didn't sever ties with the prep gang..." she finished, sounding quite depressed.

Kagome frowned. "... Why... aren't you preps anymore? Not that I want you to be, or anything... but..."

InuYasha, still poking at his pizza, said in the same tone, "Kiro was attacked and my girlfriend was murdered." Kiro looked up, obviously a little shocked that he had said that... And she looked away again, plastering on her normal big-happy-grin, (which, Kagome now realized, looked quite fake,) and saying, "Anyway, that doesn't matter! Let's not talk about that! So depressing!" she said cheerfully.

Nuku looked from Kiro to InuYasha and back, a dark expression on her face, remaining quiet. Kiro began poking at her soda with her straw, sighing heavily, and Kagome, Sango, and Nuku kept up light conversation. "Anyway... I guess... I better go... uh... see Jakotsu or something..." Kiro murmured finally, getting up.... And then the bell rang. Kiro looked up at it for a couple of seconds, as if trying to figure out what it was.

"... Oh," she murmured quietly, walking off, "Um... I'll see you next period... I guess..." she continued, giving a half wave over her shoulder.

Kagome looked at Nuku, kinda worried, and Nuku shrugged, so Kagome looked back to InuYasha... Who was staring at her. Once their eyes met, he looked away, and stood up abruptly, leaving without a word.

"... Freaks..." Sango murmured, her lip curling. Kagome shook her head, sighing. Miroku, at the other end of the cafeteria, saw Kiro and InuYasha leave, and looked at them worriedly.

""""""""""""""""""""""

Kiro walked to her next class, absorbed in her own thoughts. How could InuYasha just talk about That so easily? And, when she was around? Couldn't he have waited? She rubbed her arms, shivering. It had been the end of the school year, right after finals...

If she hadn't've dyed her hair... If she hadn't been trying to look 'normal'... She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. _Don't get depressed until the school day's over, okay, Kiro?_ She asked herself as she walked to her next class.

"... She looks just like Kikyou..." InuYasha said, approaching her from behind. Kiro jumped about a foot in the air. "_InuYasha-don't-do-that-to-me!_" Kiro hissed, turning around to glare at him. He blinked a couple of times, then apologized. "Oh... Sorry..." he mumbled.

Kiro took a couple of deep breaths, looking at him. "What did you say?" she asked finally.

"... Kagome... She looks... Just like Kikyou," he repeated quietly. Kiro bit her lip, frowning, trying to remember the girl's face. "Yeah... She does..." she murmured quietly. InuYasha nodded, beginning to walk off.

Kiro's eyes widened. "No, InuYasha, don't go there!" she hissed. InuYasha turned around, confused. He had been just about to go into the History classroom. Kiro waved her hands a little, frustrated. "That's not what I meant!"

"Don't you dare date that girl because she reminds you of Her... Don't even!" she warned. InuYasha shrugged her off, walking into the classroom. "I didn't say anything about that..." he murmured, closing the door behind him.

"Yeah, but I know how your mind works, InuYasha..." Kiro mumbled, leaning against the door, "Oh man, this is going to be one _heck_ of a year..." she continued morosely, rubbing her arms again, worried.

""""""""""""""""""""""

Miroku looked up worriedly, hearing the end-of-school bell. Kiro and InuYasha had barely spoken a word (to eachother _or_ to him,) since Lunch, and both were sitting at opposite ends of the Language Arts classroom. Kagome kept glancing over at InuYasha, Nuku kept to herself, and Sango bit off anything's head that moved.

"Hey, Miroku," Kagome began quietly, "How about we all go to a burger joint or something, and you fill us in on all of the Cliques and junk... Maybe..." she continued, "Maybe you could get Kiro and InuYasha to come, too?"

Miroku looked at her, surprised. Kagome, as tough as she tried to act or appear, was very kind-hearted — Miroku had learned that quickly. "... Uh... Sure," he said, shrugging, and smiling at her. She smiled back, ignoring as Sango pretended to gag. Nuku rolled her eyes, "Grow up, Sango..." she murmured, putting her stuff back into her backpack.

"Wait a second, I'll see if I can get them to come," Miroku said, getting up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder, walking over to InuYasha, who had tried, (and failed,) to leave the classroom before Miroku noticed. "Hey, Yasha..." Miroku greeted, blocking the hanyou's escape route. "We're going to eat... Do you want to come?" he asked.

InuYasha stared at him blankly. "Does it _look_ like I want to?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "You do realize I was trying to _leave_ before you could ask me somewhere," he finished bluntly.

"Oh, come on, InuYasha!" Miroku hissed, looking around, "How long are you going to hole yourself up in your room?" InuYasha thought for a second. "Oh, I don't know. As long as I can, I suppose. Now lay off, willya?" he asked, walking around Miroku.

Miroku watched him go, sighing heavily. He turned and looked at Kiro, at the other end of the room, still sitting at her desk, leaning her head on one hand, staring blankly at the front of the room. Either she was _really_ engrossed in the writing on the black board, or she was spaced out. Miroku walked up to her, putting a tentative hand on her shoulder, opening his mouth to ask her, but she interrupted, saying, "No... I don't want to go..." Miroku clenched his jaw, about to tell her off, (he was sick of the two of them!), but she interrupted again. "I might drop by in a bit," she said quietly, and Miroku frowned. Great, now she said she might come by, so now he couldn't tell her off.

"Fine!" he spat, "Bye, then!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kiro mumbled, rolling her eyes, "I love you too." Miroku scowled at her, giving a disgusted sigh before walking back to the three girls. "Looks like it's just me," he said. "OH NO!" Kagome said in mock-terror, laughing and walking out the door.

""""""""""""""""""""""

"Meh...." Kiro mumbled, watching Miroku, Sango, Kagome and Nuku walk out. "He's sure getting smarmy with those girls..."

"You worried?" came a snide voice that made Kiro bristle. Kiro looked up and glared at Sesshoumaru.

"Go... away..." she said, making one of her specialty two-year-old faces.

"I was just making sure we had a few things straight. On Saturday... We'll meet around 7, okay?" he asked, but didn't wait for her to reply before continuing, "And, you will dress like a girl, please-and-thank-_you_," he said, turning around and walking out.

Kiro blinked a few times, just staring at him as he walked out. ".... What an idiot..." she said, a totally bewildered look on her face. "I'm not _going_, you _moron_!" she yelled out, but he was already out the door. She shook her head, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "Jerk... asking me out... Who does he think he is?" she muttered darkly, walking out of the classroom, ignoring the looks she received.

"... I... will kill her," Kagura said murderously, looking at Kanna. Kanna smiled very slightly, and did not reply.

""""""""""""""""""""""

"Okay, so the preps..." Kagome prodded. She was sipping on a strawberry shake, Sango was stuffing her face with a triple ultimate cheeseburger, and Nuku was eating fries. Miroku was stealing Nuku's fries, much to her annoyance.

"Kagura, Kanna, Ayame... Abi, the 'Princess', Kouga... Somewhat... I guess me, from how Kiro teases," Miroku said with a grin, "Sesshoumaru... Well, I don't know if he's a prep... He's just an arrogant jerk that no one likes... He's creepy too... Dated practically every girl in the school with demon blood... Bankotsu, and his friends... Are all jocks, I guess... Except for Jakotsu... He's too gay to function; Kiro's dating him."

Sango raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know how that works?" she asked hesitantly. Nuku smirked.

Miroku grinned, "It doesn't really. Kiro dates him so people don't think she's weirder than she wants them to think, and he dates her so the whole school doesn't know he's gay... Which, the whole school knows he's gay anyway, so then people think Kiro's weird for dating a gay guy. It's quite hilarious."

"Sounds hilarious," Nuku said, smiling. "So... InuYasha... uh... Mentioned that Kiro had been attacked and his girlfriend was killed or something?" she asked tentatively. Miroku looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "He did?" he asked.

Kagome nodded, so Miroku took a deep breath. "...A little more than a year ago, right at the end of 9th grade... Kiro was fourteen... Fifteen. Uh... Well, something happened at school, and she ran off heading towards her house...

"Anyway, she took a shortcut through some alleyway, and some guy got her in the back with a crowbar. She was in the hospital for almost a week. Broke a bunch of ribs, punctured a lung..." he said quietly. "They couldn't really do anything, just let her demon healing take over it..."

"Anyway, let's not talk about this. If Kiro or InuYasha want to, they can. I can tell you that that's when Kiro stopped dressing like a girl. She was relatively normal before all of that. I won't say completely normal, though," he continued with a grin, trying to lighten dark atmosphere the conversation had started.

... It didn't work.

"And InuYasha's girlfriend?" Kagome prodded, wide eyed. Sango had stopped eating her burger, and Nuku was poking at her fries.

"Same thing," Kiro said, and they all jumped about two feet in their seats. Kiro had walked into the place and up to their table without them even noticing. She gave them a toothy, fanged grin (that reminded the others more of a tiger baring it's teeth.) She looked down at them darkly.

"Something happened at school, and Kikyou ran off towards home, or wherever she was headed, she got hit with a crowbar... It went through her spine, though... She wasn't as lucky as me," she said, in the creepiest tone the girls had ever heard before. Miroku looked scared.

_Manoman, I'm in so much trouble... Kiro's gonna kill me... I shouldn't have talked about her..._ he thought, sighing heavily.

_Okay, there it is, chapter two. Enjoy, and please review. Flames, ravings, whatever, is appreciated. Next Chapter: A little more about the attacks, and a little more school... And some more of Sesshoumaru being a jerk. _

_Well, Ja ne, tomodachi. See you next chapter!_

_Legacy-_

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away  
Now it looks as though they're here to stay  
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly, I'm not half the one I used to be,

There's a shadow hanging over me.  
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Yesterday- The Beatles


End file.
